Get More Work Done by Doing Less

Guest Author - Allan Harris

It’s Monday morning and I’ve made several phone calls already – before breakfast. And seemingly, nothing is working well. Jobs that I thought were in the bag have potentially fallen away. People I’ve needed to speak to are unavailable. And finally, defeated, I plunk myself down on the couch and give it all up. Because I have exhausted my DOING. And the only thing left is my BEING.

“At least I don’t have to give up BEING,” I thought. Five minutes pass and I begin to write because writing always calms me down and clarifies vagueness and confusion.

“How about if I DO nothing at all,” I said to the cat. “You and I can just sit here and let the work roll in. How’s that?” The cat didn’t answer because she was more interested in the latest aluminum foil ball than in philosophic conversation.

I thought our other cat understood me perfectly. She was more inclined to lie around and wait for life to bring her things – food, toys, companionship.

So I took a lesson from our second cat. And I decided to wait for work to show up.

The phone rang. A piano player was not feeling well; could I do a job Wednesday night? “No problem,” said I, and put it on my calendar. The phone rang again. Someone needed a music arrangement. “Right,” I said, and hung up the phone.

It rang a third time. A piano student needed an extra lesson, would that be okay? “You bet,” I said and put that on the calendar as well.

“This is great,” I thought. Why bother going out into the world looking for work. Let it come to you. Our cat really had the right idea.

Of course that’s not exactly how it works, because you first have to put out some effort before the results come back. But I realized that when I think I’m all alone, I always have to go out and DO something about it. DO, DO, DO. And that gets me into doo-doo.

My actions, when I have separated myself from the infinite spiritual consciousness that we’re all connected to, are not very efficient. It almost feels to me like I’m an electric lawn mower that has cut itself off from the power source that feeds it. But I never realize it at the time. Instead I just sit there feeling uncomfortable.

It wasn’t till I sat down on the couch and gave up DOING that I recognized that BEINGNESS, (we’re all human BEINGS), comes from our eternal connection with Spirit.
So when I remember to shift my attention to just BEING, and ask for help, it’s as if I get plugged back into the power grid once more. What a charge!

I suppose the lesson for me is this: when I begin to feel uncomfortable and alone, I can check to see whether I’m trying to DO everything all by myself or not. I don’t think we’re ever alone. Because whenever I’ve sincerely asked for help, in the form of a silent prayer, it always arrives.

It’s only when I think I’m alone that I forget to pay attention to all the help available, and I forget I’m a BEING and not a DOING.